Favorites of 2021: Recordings

My favorite recordings first heard in the past twelve months, in chronological order by composer:

Byrd 1588: Psalmes, Sonets & Songs of sadnes and pietie
Grace Davidson (soprano), Martha McLorinan (mezzo-soprano), and Nicholas Todd (tenor), with Alamire vocal ensemble and Fretwork viol consort; David Skinner, director. Inventa INV1006

The falcon is a symbol of conversion to the "old faith," Catholicism. Image by Julian Hindson. Image source: Presto Music

1588 was a momentous year for England. In late July the Spanish Armada was defeated by a combination of poor weather, poor strategy, and English attacks. Just the year before, the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, had been executed for her collusion in the Babington Plot to overthrow the Protestant Queen Elizabeth I and install herself as monarch, backed by an invading Spanish army. So 1588 might seem a curious time for William Byrd, a composer with known Catholic sympathies, to publish a song collection. Particularly one containing the song "Why do I use my paper, ink and pen?" which sets a poem by Henry Walpole mourning the martyrdom of Jesuit missionary Edmund Campion, who was hanged, drawn and quartered for sedition in 1581.

Although Byrd was a recusant who was fined for refusing to attend services of the Church of England, he retained Elizabeth's support from the time of his appointment to the Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal in 1572 until her death in 1603. In 1575 he and Thomas Tallis were granted a royal patent for the printing and marketing of part-music, and the 1588 collection Psalmes, Sonets & songs of sadnes and pietie was issued under that monopoly. It contains 35 vocal works in five parts. Many were originally written for domestic performance by a solo singer accompanied by a consort of four viols; for their publication in Psalmes Byrd texted the instrumental parts so that the songs could be performed by a soloist ('first singing part') plus four voices. Perhaps Byrd thought by arranging the songs for voices only he would increase their potential market. If so, his strategy worked: the publication went through several editions in his lifetime.

This is the first recording of all the numbers in the collection. Alamire director David Skinner wisely elected to vary the texture by performing 18 of the songs using a vocal soloist accompanied by viols, as Byrd originally composed them. Another 13 songs are performed by voices only, as issued in the published collection, and four are performed by viols alone.

Also in the interests of variety, Skinner changed the published order of the songs and split the collection into two separate programs. Each of the two discs of this recording opens with a group of psalms, followed by a selection of the love sonnets and pastorals, then a smaller group of songs of sadness and piety; each disc concludes with one of the two funeral songs lamenting the death of the poet and courtier Sir Philip Sidney, who died in battle against the Spanish forces in the Netherlands in 1586. So that every number could fit onto two discs, Skinner has also shortened some of the psalms; for example, the two songs drawn from the lengthy Psalm 119 have had verses cut so that their total performance time is about five minutes, rather than 20. I share Skinner's view that these changes enhance the collection's listenability at only a minor cost to its completeness.

The result is a recording of quiet beauty, inviting contemplation. Byrd's gift for melody is often apparent; it's very clear why "Lullaby, my sweet little baby" (on disc 1) was so popular that the entire collection become known as "Byrd's Lullabys." But his many compositional felicities are best appreciated by following along with the provided texts. The soloists, both vocal and instrumental, are very good, and the voices of Alamire are both individually distinctive and well-blended. The performances were recorded, fittingly, in the lovely acoustic of All Saints, a fourteenth-century church on the grounds of the Holdenby estate once owned by one of Byrd's supporters at Elizabeth's court, Sir Christopher Hatton.

"Ambitious love hath forced me to aspire":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6sbstNwmX8

Ambitious love hath forced me to aspire the beauties rare which do adorn thy face. Thy modest life yet bridles my desire, whose severe law doth promise me no grace. But what? May love live under any law? No, no. His power exceedeth man's conceit of which the Gods themselves stand in awe for on his frown, a thousand torments weight. Proceed then in this desperate enterprise, with good advise, and follow love, thy guide, that leads thee to thy wished Paradise. Thy climbing thoughts, this comfort take with all, that if it be thy foul disgrace to slide thy brave attempt shall yet excuse thy fall.

Royal Handel
Eva Zaïcik (mezzo-soprano) with Le Consort. Alpha ALPHA662

Image source: Presto Music

From 1720 to 1728 George Frideric Handel was the principal composer and musical director for London's Royal Academy of Opera. The Royal Academy was a group of aristocratic shareholders who each invested at least £200 to commission new opera seria from Europe's leading composers, including not only Handel but also Attilio Ariosti and Giovanni Bononcini. And in his additional role as Master of the Orchestra Handel was responsible for engaging the vocal soloists and musicians for the company.

During this time Handel wrote some of his greatest operas, including Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Julius Caesar in Egypt), Tamerlano (Tamerlaine), and Rodelinda, all first performed in the twelve months between February 1724 and February 1725. Arias from those operas have been recorded many times; although this recording does include one stirring aria from Giulio Cesare, it has a welcome focus on lesser-known operas by Handel and the other two composers.

Eva Zaïcik has a rich, rounded mezzo-soprano that is especially luscious in the slower arias, but she can also fleetly negotiate coloratura passages. Le Consort is less than a third of the size of Handel's Royal Academy orchestra, but what it sacrifices in richness of sound it makes up for in transparency of textures and responsiveness to the music and the singer. A very rewarding recital, as you can hear in "Stille amare" (Bitter drops [of poison]) from Tolomeo, Re d'Egitto (Ptolemy, Ruler of Egypt):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qfqnP0j8lQ

Stille amare, già vi sento tutte in seno, la morte a chiamar; già vi sento smorzare il tormento, già vi sento tornarmi a bear.

Bitter drops, already I feel you within my breast, summoning death; already I feel you ease my torment, already I feel you return me to joy.

La Francesina: Handel's Nightingale
Sophie Junker (soprano) with Le Concert de l'Hostel Dieu; Franck-Emmanuel Comte, director. Aparte AP233

Image source: Presto Music

La Francesina—"the little Frenchwoman"—was born Élisabeth Duparc. As a young woman she travelled to Italy for operatic training, and appeared onstage in Florence and other Tuscan cities. In 1736—Handel scholar Winton Dean thinks she may have been 20 or 21, but it's possible she was a year or three older—she came to London, probably after being talent-scouted by Nicola Porpora, musical director of the Opera of the Nobility. The Opera of the Nobility had been founded in 1733 in opposition to Handel's company, reflecting a political split between the Prince of Wales and his father King George II. In the Opera of the Nobility La Francesina sang with the castrato Farinelli, the greatest opera star in the world.

It's perhaps no coincidence that the company employing the greatest opera star in the world went bankrupt by the end of the 1736-37 season. La Francesina then joined Handel's company, and performed with him in opera and oratorio for the next decade. She was described by Charles Burney has having a "natural warble, and agility of voice," a "spirited manner," and "lark-like execution" which "Handel seems to have great pleasure in displaying." [1] For good reason: judging from the parts he wrote for her she was a very skilled singer. Those parts include Romilda in Serse (1738), the title roles in Deidamia (1741), Semele (1744), and L'Allegro in L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato (1742), and a revised version of the aria "Rejoice greatly" in Messiah (1742).

Sophie Junker is a young Belgian soprano, and this her first solo recording. To my ear her singing is not always perfect, but it is passionate, exciting, and expressive. We had the good fortune to see Sophie Junker in concert with Sherezade Panthaki accompanied by Voices of Music, one of my Favorite Concerts of 2019; I wrote then that "Junker was a voice new to us and a wonderful discovery." That excellent first impression is amply confirmed by this new recording.

Romilda's "Nè men con l'ombre d'infedeltà" from Serse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7IGumccAxE

Nè men con l'ombre d'infedeltà voglio tradire l'anima mia; e se'l mio bene suo mal si fè, incolpi amore, non gelosia.

Not even with a shadow of infidelity Would I betray my beloved; And if harm should befall my dearest one, Let love, not jealousy, be to blame.

Almira and Antiochus und Stratonica
Soloists with the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra; Paul O'Dette and Stephen Stubbs, directors. CPO 555205-2 and CPO 555369-2

Image source: Boston Early Music Festival

These two operas are grouped together because they are both of high quality and they are linked historically: they were both written for the Hamburg Opera in the first decade of the 1700s. Almira (1705) was the first opera composed by the 19-year-old Georg Friedrich Händel (later Anglicized to George Frideric Handel), while Antiochus and Stratonica (1708) was the second opera by the 25-year-old Christoph Graupner, who had come to Hamburg just after Händel's departure (perhaps no coincidence).

Both operas feature complicated plots providing plenty of opportunity for emotional outpourings, include both comic and serious characters, and provide a mix of German, Italian, and French musical elements. And both are given excellent performances by the forces of the Boston Early Music Festival.

In Almira, the Queen of Castile (Emöke Baráth) must fulfill the deathbed wish of her father and marry the son of the royal counselor Consalvo (Christian Immler). However, Almira loves her secretary Fernando (Colin Balzer), whose birth is obscure. Consalvo's son Osman (Zachary Wilder) is loved by the Princess Edilia (Amanda Forsythe); but, ambitious to be elevated to the monarchy by marrying Almira, Osman abandons Edilia. Matters are further complicated by rivals for the affections of both Almira and Osman, and Consalvo's own romantic aspirations. And then it turns out that Consalvo had another son, believed lost at sea. . .

Amanda Forsythe as Princess Edilia performing "Schönste Rosen und Narcissen" from Act I of Almira:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2SKgk4ChfE

Schönste Rosen und Narcissen, lasst in eurer Wunderpracht mich das Bild von Osman küssen, welches mich verliebt gemacht. Hohe Linden, die ihr grünet und zu holde Schatten dienet, seid bemüht, in den Zweigen mir zu zeigen, ob der Hoffnung edle Blüth’ wird dereinst mein Leid versüssen?

Lovely roses and narcissus, Amid your wonderful splendour let me kiss the image of Osman, which made me fall in love. Tall lindens, as you come into leaf and make sweet shade, might you strive in your branches to show me whether the noble bud of hope will sweeten my sorrow one day?

Antiochus und Stratonica has a double helping of forbidden love. King Seleucus (Harry van der Kamp), recently widowed, has married the much younger Stratonica (Hana Blažíková). His son Antiochus (Christian Immler) is stricken with love for his beautiful stepmother, but rather than dishonor his family, sickens and wastes away. The handsome doctor Hesychius (Jesse Blumberg) is called in, and it doesn't take him long to diagnose the cause of Antiochus' suffering. Meanwhile, the sorceress Mirtenia (Sunhae Im) has fallen in love with the royal treasurer Demetrius (Aaron Sheehan), who is inconveniently married to Ellenia (Sherezade Panthaki). It's not a comfortable position to be in when there's a sorceress who wishes you didn't exist. . .

Seleucus' "Zu den Wolcken" (Up to the clouds):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5Bxg1CZPB8

Zu den Wolcken, zu den Sternen, laß ich meine Seufftzer gehn. Himmel ja, durch viele Thränen, und durch Sehnen wird man dich erweichet sehn!

Up to the clouds, up to the stars, I send my sighs. Yes, O heaven, through many tears and through yearning your heart will be softened!

La Grotta di Trofonio and Armida
Soloists with Les Talens Lyriques; Christophe Rousset, director. Ambroisie AMB9986 and Aparté AP244

Image source: Presto Music

Beginning in 2005 with La Grotta di Trofonio (The Cave of Trophonius, 1785), Les Talens Lyriques director Christophe Rousset has embarked on a project to reclaim Antonio Salieri's operas from neglect and disregard. So far he has recorded five complete operas, and the results have been revelatory. Far from the mediocrity portrayed in Peter Shaffer's play and screenplay Amadeus, Salieri has been revealed as a gifted and highly original composer.

And it has become abundantly clear that Mozart and his librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte borrowed musical and dramatic ideas from Salieri. As I wrote in my post on Salieri's La scuola de' gelosi (1778), Mozart and Salieri: The School of Jealousy, "Salieri may not have been Mozart, but being Salieri was more than sufficient." (La scuola de' gelosi was an Honorable Mention in my Favorites of 2019: Recordings.)

Each of these operas offers its own rewards (and distinctive sound-world). La Grotta di Trofonio is an opera buffa featuring two sisters, the serious Ofelia (Raffaella Milanesi) and the light-hearted Dori (Marie Arnet), and their temperamentally matched lovers Artemidoro (Nikolai Schukoff) and Plistene (Mario Cassi). Walking in the woods one day the two men enter the cave of the magician Trofonio (Carlo Lepore) and emerge with their personalities switched, triggering a series of comic misunderstandings and mis-timed attempts to match up each couple's personalities again. (Mozart and Da Ponte borrowed extensively from La Grotta for Cosi fan tutte (1790).)

"Di questo bosco ombroso" (In this shady forest), Artemidoro's Act I aria about finding peace and tranquillity in solitude:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA0IRhZyC88

Di questo bosco ombroso al solitario aspetto un placido reposo d'insolito diletto tatto m'inonda il cor. La cheta solitudine a un'alma filosofica quant'è più cara, e amabile, che di città lo strepito e d'affolato popolo l'incomodo clamor!

In this shady forest the solitude brings a peaceful repose of rare delight that touches my heart. The quiet and solitude to a philosophical soul are more dear, and appealing, than the noise of the city and the crowds of people who make such a distracting clamor!

Armida (1771) is a magic opera based on Torquato Tasso's epic Gerusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered), a source previously used by different authors for libretti set by Lully (Armide, 1686), Handel (Rinaldo, 1711), and Jommelli (Armida Abbandonata, 1770); Armida operas would later be written by Gluck (1777), Haydn (1784), Rossini (1817), and Dvořák (1904).

In Salieri's opera (libretto by Marco Coltellini) Saracen sorceress Armida (sung by Lenneke Ruiten) is using her supernatural powers against the Christian army besieging Jerusalem. She captures the valiant knight Rinaldo (Florie Valiquette) and brings him to her magic island. There she falls in love with him and uses her powers (whether erotic or magical is not specified) to make him love her and forget his martial duties. As the opera opens, Rinaldo's companion Ubaldo (Ashley Riches) arrives on Armida's island in an attempted rescue (or should that be "rescue?"). Using his magic shield and wand Ubaldo is able to defeat the infernal beings defending the island; he's also able to resist the equally dangerous allurements of Armida's handmaidens, led by Ismene (Teresa Iervolino). But can Rinaldo defend himself against Armida's tears?

Armida moves swiftly through its three acts (which take just over two hours to perform). Under Rousset's direction the music is highly effective at evoking both the darkness and sensuous pleasure of Armida's island, and the cast is uniformly excellent. Beautifully produced by Aparté in a hardbound case (like a miniature book) with essays, images, and the full text in four languages, the CD version is a strong argument for the continued production of physical media.

"Qui'l regno è del contento," a love duet for Armida and Rinaldo from the beginning of Act II:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7fh9lJDWZI

Armida, Rinaldo Qui'l regno è del contento la sede del piacer. Rinaldo Fresch'ombre e verdi sponde, cui bagna un rio d'argento c'invitano a goder. Par che la terra e l'onde spirino un dolce ardor, sembra che fin d'amor mormori il vento. Armida, Rinaldo Qui'l regno è del contento la sede del piacer. Armida Folle chi della vita passa il breve momento in torbidi pensier. Che val l'età fiorita, che val ricchezza ed or, se cambia un van timor tutto in tormento? Armida, Rinaldo Prezioso è il tempo, e lieve, facciamone tesor, la vita è un cammin breve, spargiamolo di fior.

Armida, Rinaldo Here happiness reigns, this is the seat of pleasure. Rinaldo Refreshing shade and verdant banks, bathed by a silver stream, invite us to enjoyment. The land and the sea inspire a sweet ardour, even the winds seem to murmur words of love. Armida, Rinaldo Here happiness reigns, this is the seat of pleasure. Armida Foolish are they who spend life's brief moments in troubled thoughts. What's the use of being young, what's the use of gold and riches, if vain fear turns everything into torment? Armida, Rinaldo Time is precious and fleeting, so let us treasure it; life's path is short, so let us strew it with flowers.

After Silence
Voces8: Eleonore Cockerham and Andrea Haines (soprano), Katie Jeffries-Harris and Barnaby Smith (alto), Blake Morgan and Euan Williamson (tenor), Christopher Moore and Jonathan Pacey (bass); Barnaby Smith, director. Voces8 Records VCM129

Image source: Presto Music

"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." —Aldous Huxley

For us this has been the year of Voces8. After being introduced to this (chiefly) a capella group via YouTube by a good friend and colleague, I sought out their latest album After Silence and learned about the streamed concert series they had begun sponsoring, Live from London, which will feature heavily in my next Favorites of 2021 post.

What is immediately apparent with Voces8 is the way their flawless intonation and perfect unison combine to make an exquisitely blended sound. Dissonances, especially, are so impeccably tuned that they will send shivers up your spine.

Eric Whitacre's "A Boy and a Girl," a version of "Los Novios" by the Mexican poet Octavio Paz as translated by Muriel Rukeyser:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLoncQ9Euik

A Boy and a Girl Stretched out on the grass, a boy and a girl. Savoring their oranges, giving their kisses like waves exchanging foam. Stretched out on the beach, a boy and a girl. Savoring their limes, giving their kisses like clouds exchanging foam. Stretched out underground, a boy and a girl. Saying nothing, never kissing, giving silence for silence.

Los Novios Tendidos en la yerba una muchacha y un muchacho. Comen naranjas, cambian besos como las olas cambian sus espumas. Tendido en la playa una muchacha y un muchacho. Comen limones, cambian besos como las nubes cambian espumas. Tendidos bajo tierra una muchacha y un muchacho. No dicen nada, no se besan, cambian silencio por silencio.

Their sound is especially effective in the intimate, mournful and devotional works that are at the heart of their repertory and which make up the core of this double CD set. After Silence includes works spanning the 16th through the 21st centuries (many of the contemporary pieces specifically commissioned by the group), and is divided into four parts: Remembrance, Devotion, Redemption, and Elemental. The album may have been planned as a celebration of the 15th anniversary of Voces8, but it's hard not to read it also as a response to the pandemic: many of the pieces included address the pain of separation and irrevocable loss.

Philip Stopford's setting of "Lully, Lulla, Lullay," filmed in St Stephen's Walbrook Church, London:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7qYeZcOioI

Lully, lulla, lully, lulla By by, lully lullay Lully, lulla, thou little tiny child By by, lully lullay O sisters too, How may we do For to preserve this day This poor youngling, For whom we sing, By by, lully lullay? Herod, the king, In his raging, Chargèd he hath this day His men of might, In his own sight, All young children to slay. That woe is me, Poor child for thee! And ever morn and day, For thy parting Neither say nor sing By by, lully lullay

Other Favorites of 2021:

• Streamed performances
• Live performance
• Movies
• Books

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1. Charles Burney, A General History of Music, Volume the Second, Chapter VI: The Origin of the Italian Opera in England, and its Progress there during the present Century, 1789.